The winners of the Vodafone Digital Award offering a total prize money of HUF 15 million were announced this year again. Out of the nearly 150 entries received, a total of 10 were awarded: 8 in one of three categories: Digital Society, Inclusion for All and Planet and Sustainability. In addition, a Vodafone Employee Special Award and a 5G Special Award were also granted. Several of the winning projects are helping digitalise healthcare and education, but among the winners there are also projects supporting environmental protection and sustainability.
Through the Vodafone Digital Award, the Vodafone Hungary Foundation aims to identify and reward ready-made innovations that offer a solution to a significant social challenge. 42% of the close to 150 entries, which represent an extremely high level of participation, came from individuals, while 22% were submitted by businesses and startups, and 36% by NGOs, respectively.
“As a technology company, we witness the challenges faced by our society every day, and all sectors must play their part in embracing these issues for the sake of common advancement. The Vodafone Foundations have launched a number of programmes around the world that make a difference in day-to-day life, supporting equal opportunities, sustainability and the creation of a digital society and thus a better future. One of these programmes is the Vodafone Digital Award, which we set up at the end of 2018 with the goal of incentivising and recognising innovators who, through their digital projects, offer a solution to a challenge faced by society. ” – explained Amanda Nelson, CEO of Vodafone Hungary.
“The most significant challenge of 2020 is the pandemic, beyond doubt, and the health and economic fallout we see in our day-to-day lives. Therefore, we were delighted to receive a number of entries this year that support the digitalisation of healthcare, including some excellent applications, smart medical devices and telemedicine systems. In addition, a number of solutions supporting digital education, such as digital curricula, robotics, VR and AR-supported educational applications, were submitted to the Jury. ” – said Dr. Gergő J. Budai, Vice Chairman of the Board of Vodafone Hungary Zrt. and Curator of the Vodafone Hungary Foundation.
Dr. Károly Balázs Solymár, the Deputy State Secretary for Digitalization of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, commented: „One of the elementary technological platform of the modern society is digitalization, in some way, everything can be connected to it, we can say, that it is an integral part of our lives, which has got such beneficial benefits that we have to put at the service of our own developement. The Vodafone Digital Award is such a prestigious acknowledgement by which we evaluate those applications and applicants, that look at the digitalization as an opportunity and exploite the synergy between society and technology creating a bridge between the digital society, equality and sustainable development.”
‘Digital Society’ category
In the Digital Society category, the Vodafone Foundation welcomed innovative digital solutions that would benefit the whole of society and make our day-to-day lives easier through the use of digital devices.
1st place: DokiLab Kft. – DokiApp application
DokiApp is a telemedicine application which matches patients with physicians available through the app at any given time, and offers video consultation in a closed and secure system.
2nd place: Móra-BOOKR Kids Kft. – The supplementation of the digital interactive library of the BOOKR Suli application for 7th and 8th grade students.
BOOKR School is an application that uses interactive, animated audiobooks and a teacher admin platform to help students get to love reading. The project will focus on the development of interactive digital curricula for 7th and 8th grade students.
3rd place: Melinda Szegedi – Development of the e-Fásli medical device
The e-Fásli app of Melinda Szegedi, who is merely 19 years old, is a compress with digital temperature control. The solution thus eliminates the difficulties of traditional heat therapy, thanks to digitalisation.
‘Inclusion for All’ category
In the Inclusion for All category, the Vodafone Foundation accepted digital applications that support an underprivileged group, such as our disabled peers or those living in poverty.
1st place: IT Foundation for the Visually Impaired – Paper to audiobook in a single step, DEX 3.0
The winner of this category is a software solution that generates ready-to-be-listened-to audiobooks from paper documents, either in the well-recognised mp3 format or in the unique Daisy format used by the visually impaired.
2nd place: ExaMe Learning Ltd. – ExaMe E-learning Platform
With ExaMe, students can prepare for their secondary school maturity exams through a single application, using the materials uploaded to the app by publishers and teachers via a dedicated platform. With the help of the award, applicants plan to provide free learning materials to 500 underprivileged graduating students.
3rd place: Hungarian Maltese Charity Association – Safe at home – home help system with alarms
The Safe at Home programme aims to help older people live independent lives, strengthen their sense of security and, if necessary, help them in critical life situations – all with the opportunities offered by telecommunications.
‘Planet and Sustainability’ category
In the category of ‘Planet and Sustainability’, organisers accepted innovative digital solutions that contribute to the widespread promotion of environmental awareness and environmental protection. The Vodafone Hungary Foundation awarded a shared the first place in this category.
1st place: ff.next – Ecomate – Green banking solution for the reduction of our ecological footprint
EcoMate is an innovative, mobile-first solution that combines financial and environmental awareness education. The application allows users to monitor personal finances and comes with a solution tracking personal carbon emissions.
1st place: WWF Hungary Foundation – WWF Footprint application
The WWF Footprint app is a unique tool and the first solution that can calculate our individual ecological footprint using actual local data, which also provides everyday useful tips and regular challenges aiming to reduce the user’s footprint.
Two special awards were also granted at the gala. The application, which won the Special Employee Award, was selected by Vodafone employees through an internal vote. The winner od the special award will be taken care of by Vodafone’s mentoring team, by supporting the implementation and development of the project over a period of 6 months. Vodafone employees have chosen a project that has a particularly good fit with the company’s objectives, and, with Vodafone’s professional help, will be able to achieve even greater success in the future. The winner of the Special Employee Award is Emese Pancsa’s smart composting tool called Compocity, which simplifies and makes the composting process widely available, thus making a significant contribution to an environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Being a leading player in 5G, the new generation mobile network, Vodafone Hungary finds it extremely important to embrace solutions that build on the benefits offered by the 5G network, and this is what the 5G Special Award established as part of the Vodafone Digital Award aims to serve. This year, the 5G Special Award went to OrthoPred Kft.’s artificial intelligence and 5G-supported examination system called PORC-O-GO, aimed at the early diagnosis of incorrect movement patterns and abnormal locomotor changes based on video recordings, using real-time data processing and feedback.
The 5G network was not only granted a special award – it also had a role in setting up Hungary’s first real 5G concert at the awards gala, where Irie Maffia singer Sena and the band’s guitarist Ádám Szekér played music for the audience together, but from two different venues, using 5G connection.
BACKGROUND
Jury:
- Balázs Károly Solymár, Deputy State Secretary for Digitalisation at the Ministry of Innovation and Technology
- Gergő J. Budai, Vice Chairman of the Board of Vodafone Hungary Zrt. and Curator of the Vodafone Hungary Foundation
- András Puskás, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Risk and Operations (CRO) at Budapest Bank
- Imre Mártha, Chairman of the Curatory of the Vodafone Hungary Foundation,
- Bence Katona, CEO of Hiventures
- Sándor Erdős, the person who dreamt up the OncoVR programme and one of the winners of the 2019 Vodafone Digital Award, a Digital Hospital Angel and student at the Doctoral School of Semmelweis University
- Alíz Szente, the founder of Gyerekkel.com
Further information: Hajnalka Jeschek Imola Halmosi Vodafone Hungary HPS Communication +36 70 946 4484 +36 30 894 1299 sajto@vodafone.com halmosi.imola@hps.hu
About Vodafone
As a leading telecommunications and technology company, Vodafone connects society and builds a digital future for all.
Vodafone focuses of two-scaled and differentiated platforms in Europe and Africa. We have mobile and fixed-line operations in 22 countries, and partner with networks in 48 more. As of 30 June 2020, we have over 300 million mobile customers, including over 27 million fixed-line broadband and 22 million television customers in Europe.
We connect you for a better future. We are optimistic about how technology and connectivity can build a better future and improve people’s lives. Through our company, we are building a digital society that promotes social and economic advancement, includes everyone and does not burden our planet. We are committed to improving the lives of 1 billion people and halving our environmental impact by 2025.
For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com.
About the Vodafone Hungary Foundation
As part of its global corporate responsibility policy, Vodafone has established local foundations in 25 countries. The primary goal of the foundations is to create digital equality, which is achieved by embracing local issues.
The Vodafone Hungary Foundation started its operation in 2003, and since its establishment it has distributed more than HUF 1.5 billion in grants among civil partners. Their main goal is to put technology at the service of public good through their programmes, thus making people’s everyday lives better and simpler.
Find out more about the programmes of the Vodafone Hungary Foundation, as well as any related developments and recent events at our Corporate Responsibility site and/or on Facebook.
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